Rock Art Recording Workshop - Drakensberg 2007 A rock art recording workshop organised by GDRI-STAR and the French Institute in South Africa, with the financial support of the French Embassy in South Africa.24th Novembrer - 1st Decembre 2007 (Giants Castle, South Africa).Final programme

Rock Art and Women Initiations in South Central Africa (Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique) – Les Eyzies 2010A public lecture on rock art and women initiations ceremonies in South Central Africa (Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique) by Dr Leslie Zubieta - Musée national de Préhistoire des Eyzies (France). Organised by GDRI-STAR, with the support of the Pôle International de Préhistoire and les Eyzies Town Council. 27th January 2010.

Rock Art of the Western Cape (South Africa) – Les Eyzies 2010A public lecture on the rock art of Western Cape by Siyakha Mguni - Musée national de Préhistoire des Eyzies (France). Organised by GDRI-STAR, with the support of the Pôle International de Préhistoire and les Eyzies Town Council.

Grand opening of the new Geo-Luminescence Laboratory at the University of the Witwatersrand - 2009

3D Scanning of Rock Art Sites - Cederberg 2007 3D scanning and high resolution photography of rock art sites in the Cederberg area by teams from the University of Cape Town, with financial support from GDRI-STAR.

Funded by GDRI-STAR, Catherine Namono attends the PhD Students and Post-doc seminar organised by CREAP in Toulouse (April 2008) and meets research teams at the University of Aix-en-Provence, LSCE, SOLEIL, C2RMF and the Musée de l'Homme, networking and establishing contacts for future collaborations in rock art in Africa.

OSL Dating Research Trip - Paris 2007

Funded by GDRI-STAR, George Susino (RARI) visits OSL dating facilities in Paris and set up joint research with Hélène Valladas (LSCE) and Antoine Zink (C2RMF)

Research Trip: Leslie Zubieta – Toulouse-Périgueux-Paris 2010

Dr Leslie Zubieta, a specialist in central African rock art, travelled 15 days in France to meet with teams from the CREAP (Toulouse), the Centre National de Prehistoire (Périgueux) and the Institut de Paléontologie Humaine (Paris). She made many preliminary contacts to prepare future joint research projects and visited more than 15 rock art and archaeological sites, getting a sense of the challenges and techniques of Upper Palaeolithic rock art study. She gave a public lecture at the Musee National de la Prehistoire des Eyzies on the 27th January. GDRI-STAR funded Leslie’s journey.

Research Trip: Mr Siyakha Mguni – Paris & Périgueux 2010

Mr Siyakha Mguni, who is doing a PhD on the rock art of the Cederberg (Western Cape, South Africa) at the University of Cape Town took a trip of 14 days in France, where he met teams from the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (Paris), Synchrotron SOLEIL (Gif-sur-Yvette) and the Centre National de Prehistoire (Périgueux) to prepare a joint research. On this occasion, he also visited the Musée d’Archaeologie National, the Musée du Quai Branly and the Musée National de Prehistoire des Eyzies, several rock art and archaeological sites and met researchers and students working on French Palaeolithic Rock Art. This gave Siyakha Mguni a taste of the study of Upper Palaeolithic rock art and an introduction to its methods. Siyakha Mguni gave a public lecture at the Musée National de la Prehistoire des Eyzies on the 13th January. GDRI-STAR funded Siyakha’s journey.

Research Trip: Mr Julien Monney – Johannesburg & Botswana 2010

For 18 days Julien Monney, a PhD student at the University of Paris 10, staid in Johannesburg and Botswana, where he visited the Tosdillo Hills and the Kuru Art Project at D’kar. This trip was the occasion for Julien Monney to discuss with rock art specialists at the Rock Art Research Institute (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) the issues raised by the use of anthropology for the study of rock art. Julien Monney gave a public lecture on this topic at the Origins Centre (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg). In Botswana, Julien Monney visited rock art sites in the Tsodillo Hills and appreciated the interest of an ethnographic study of the perception of rock art by the local communities. GDRI-STAR funded Julien’s journey.

Research Trip: Mélanie Duval – Johannesburg & Drakenberg 2009

From 16 March to 10 April, Dr Mélanie Duval (EDYTEM, Univeristy of Savoie-Chambery) staid at the Rock Art Research Institute (University of the Witwatersrand) and in the uKhahlamba-Drankersberg Parc (South Africa). This stay aimed to assess the complexity of tourism dynamics in the uKhahlamba-Drankersberg Parc. These observations led to the preparation of a research project and an application for funding to the University of the Witwatersrand. This application was successful and allowed Mélanie Duval to work one year (October 2009-October 2010) in South Africa to go deeper in the analysis of tourism and territorial issues in the uKhahlamba-Drankersberg Parc. GDRI-STAR funded Mélanie’s journey.